Yanagi Shibori, Willow Pattern Tie Dye

The graceful pattern was created by hand pleating the cotton and binding with thread. The irregular hand pleats suggest the cascading branches of a weeping willow. A beautiful example of shibori.

From the way the panels are joined, it appears that the cloth was re-purposed from, or originally intended for use as, a festival yukata, or cotton summer kimono. Specifically a mino shibori yukata, named after a Japanese rain cape to which the shibori pattern resembles. The two full width panels would have been from the body of the kimono, while the two half-width pieces running along the right side, would likely have been used as okumi, the narrow gussets seen on the front of kimono which help it to wrap the body entirely.